New Florida Law Impacts Government Audits

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law a bill that increases government accountability in several areas—including financial statement audits and other accounting procedures.

Senate Bill No. 7014, signed by the governor in late April, takes effect on July 1, 2019. The law requires a wide range of government and public education entities to establish and maintain internal controls that prevent and detect fraud, abuse and waste. It also clarifies definitions for these terms and for “local government entity” in regards to tourism agencies and water management districts.

The law also modifies requirements regarding auditor selection committees for local government entities, again with the goal of increasing government accountability. Specifically:

• The auditor selection committee for a municipality, special district, district school board, charter school, or charter technical career center must consist of at least three members. One member of the auditor selection committee must be a member of the governing body of an entity specified in this paragraph, who shall serve as the chair of the committee.
• An employee, a chief executive officer, or a chief financial officer of the county, municipality, special district, district school board, charter school, or charter technical career center may not serve as a member of an auditor selection committee established under this subsection; however, an employee, a chief executive officer, or a chief financial officer of the county, municipality, special district, district school board, charter school, or charter technical career center may serve in an advisory capacity.

You can read the full text of the bill here. We also recommend contacting your government CPAs at James Moore if you have questions—and even if you don’t. With the July 1 effective date fast approaching and government accountability being a hot-button issue, you don’t want to be caught off guard. We’ll walk you through all of the stipulations of the new law to make sure your organization is compliant, and let you know what you need to do if it isn’t.

All content provided in this article is for informational purposes only. Matters discussed in this article are subject to change. For up-to-date information on this subject please contact a James Moore professional. James Moore will not be held responsible for any claim, loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of any information within these pages or any information accessed through this site.